Updated on December 3, 2016 at 10:37 PMPosted on December 3, 2016 at 10:32 PM

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A vigil was held on Saturday, December 3, 2016, by family members and friends of football standout Joe McKnight, who was shot dead Thursday in what authorities have described as a "road rage" incident in Terrytown.
(Beau Evans, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

Two days after the fatal shooting of Joe McKnight, hundreds of people gathered at the Lincoln Manor Gym in Kenner to hold a vigil for the slain high school football star and NFL running back. Among the attendees were McKnight's family, friends and former teammates, who grieved and called for unity as the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office investigation into McKnight's death proceeds.

McKnight was shot dead Thursday afternoon (Dec. 1) at the intersection of Behrman Highway and Holmes Boulevard in Terrytown in what authorities have described as a "rage rage" incident. The suspected shooter, Ronald Gasser, was released by the sheriff's office Thursday night after questioning. Authorities say Gasser admitted to killing McKnight, but he has not been charged with a crime. At a press conference Friday, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand hinted that Louisiana's "stand your ground" self-defense law "looms on the horizon" as a potential factor in the case.

Gasser's release has sparked outrage across the country, with a host of observers on social media and elsewhere fuming that Gasser, a white man, was set free after admitting to slaying McKnight, a black man. But with the vigil underway starting around 6 p.m. Saturday, a host of speakers called for unity in the face of mounting unrest.

"We all need to come together," said Robby Green, one of McKnight's former teammates at John Curtis Christian School. "Regardless of what happens here and what happens with this situation, I think we all need to come together. White, black, Spanish -- it doesn't matter what we are as a race, gender. I think we all need to come together."

Members of McKnight's family did not speak alongside the dozen or so speakers at the vigil, among whom were a handful of elected officials who called on the Louisiana Legislature to take a renewed look at how the state's "stand your ground" law should be applied.

"You can believe that we will be going back to the Capitol to work on legislation to make it clear (that) when people commit these crimes, they cannot hide behind laws that were intended to do one thing, and are used to disguise what appears to be (murder)," said state Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans. He was echoed in his commitment by state Rep. Rodney Lyons, D-Harvey.

"When we get back to the Legislature, we've got to find a way to look at these laws," Lyons said. "As we move forward, stand strong. Remember Joe, and remember his family."

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, also spoke at the vigil in support of the McKnight family. He stopped short, however, of joining Carter and Lyons in their calls to examine state law, choosing to "reserve comment on that and see how it plays out," he said in an interview after the vigil.

"It was senseless," Richmond said. "My thoughts as an African American male and as an African American father is that too many people fear or make judgments on us. You're in a car with the ability to drive away, with the ability to roll your windows up, and you feel the only choice you have is to shoot three times? I can't comprehend that."

Following the nearly hour-long gathering in the gym, attendees poured outside into a ball field for a candlelit vigil. Huddled on the field, the crowd released dozens of white balloons into the night sky amid chants of "Justice! Justice!"